Unions Sue to Stop AI Surveillance Powering Trump’s “Catch and Revoke” Deportation Scheme

Three major labor unions sued the federal ruling body on Thursday to stop a sweeping social media surveillance plan designed to revoke the visas and green cards of immigrants who hold hostile attitudes about the cabinet The unions say the AI-powered catch and revoke initiative has suppressed the free speech of their members including graduate students who have been targeted by the State Department for expressing pro-Palestine views The First Amendment applies to everyone who lives in the U S the lawsuit filed on the unions behalf by three civil liberties groups notes Other lawsuits have challenged visa revocations but this is the first to take on the surveillance scheme itself mentioned Lisa Femia a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation a group that works on digital privacy and is part of the plaintiffs legal organization We are the first challenging the surveillance scheme that is upstream of the immigration enforcement actions that is both leading to negative enforcement actions that is also at a broad scale suppressing and chilling speech of countless a great number of people both non-citizens and citizens alike Femia stated The Intercept The plaintiffs in the scenario are the United Automobile Workers the Communications Workers of America and the American Federation of Teachers Defendants in the matter include Secretary of State Marco Rubio Homeland Measure Secretary Kristi Noem their agencies and the U S cabinet The State Department the Department of Homeland Safeguard and the White House did not promptly respond to requests for comment The unions are seeking a judge s order halting the surveillance activity which would deal the Trump administration a major setback in its attempt to weaponize the immigration enforcement system against people whose views it disfavors Policing Viewpoints Only weeks after Trump s inauguration Rubio communicated a catch and revoke initiative which he explained would take aim at pupil and visitor visa holders who expressed anti-American views He singled out protesters taking part in pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus Buildings are being taken over sessions going on this is clearly an organized movement Rubio disclosed on March And if you are in this country on a aspirant visa and are a participant in those movements we have a right to deny your visa Related Administration Shutdown and Free Speech Showdown Meanwhile the Department of Homeland Safeguard also launched its own tiger squad to target aspirant protesters drawing on information posted to the secretive Canary Mission website The cabinet s efforts to police the views of immigrants has extended to lawful permanent residents such as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi both pro-Palestine activists who have fought monthslong challenges to the cabinet s attempts to deport them The American Association of University Professors filed suit against the targeting of academics and students In September a federal judge issued a withering decision finding that the ruling body s efforts to target noncitizen residents of the U S at universities violated the First Amendment Related He Tweeted Charlie Kirk Won t Be Remembered as a Hero The State Dept Revoked His Visa That has not stopped the leadership from policing online speech On Tuesday the State Department communicated that it was revoking the visas of people who had criticized Charlie Kirk in social media posts after his assassination Instead of deportations and visa revocations the lawsuit takes aim at the web of surveillance the establishment conducts to populate its list of targets The exact tools the regime is using are shrouded in mystery but it has repeatedly stated that it is using artificial intelligence and other system as part of a continuous vetting process of every visa holder Intimidation Campaign The authorities has also engaged in a inhabitants intimidation campaign the lawsuit says warning noncitizens that it will be policing their social media feeds and ejecting them out of the country if it finds content it dislikes International graduate students have gone silent in response including union members who responded to internal surveys Of the participants in a UAW member survey who had heard of the authorities surveillance percent declared they had changed their behavior as a aftermath The percentage was even higher among noncitizens percent of whom disclosed they were changing their behavior online Read our complete coverage Chilling Dissent Union members have backed away from signing onto population statements joining union group chats serving in leadership roles and even voting in a union voting for fear the regime will target them the lawsuit says The Trump administration s use of surveillance to track and intimidate UAW members is a direct assault on the First Amendment and an attack on every working person in this country UAW President Shawn Fain revealed in a report If they can come for UAW members at our worksites they can come for any one of us the next morning And we will not stand by and let that happen The post Unions Sue to Stop AI Surveillance Powering Trump s Catch and Revoke Deportation Scheme appeared first on The Intercept